When Glasgow agreed in September 2024 to take over the hosting of this year’s Commonwealth Games it felt, to borrow a sporting term, like they had just been given the ultimate hospital pass.

 With less than two years to pull the whole thing together, it was hard to escape the notion that they were risking so much to gain very little.

Yes, Victoria would have to provide financial compensation to the tune of £100million after handing over hosting duties at such short notice as they balked at escalating costs set to soar past the £3billion mark and pushed the ejector button.

That should have been a sign just to let this antiquated concept of a multi-sport event for former territories of the old British Empire to go quietly into the night. The Scottish Government and the city of Glasgow, however, thought otherwise, offering a rescue package while simultaneously promising taxpayers that none of this would come out of their pockets.

With a total spending pot of only £150million, these were going to have to become the budget Games, the equivalent of ditching the weekly shop at Waitrose for a more cost-effective visit to Lidl.

The big red pen soon came out. Only ten sports would feature and established staples including hockey, badminton and squash wouldn’t make the cut. There would be no free-to-watch road events in either cycling or athletics. No athlete’s village. No new venues built. Opening and closing ceremonies would be held inside rather than at a stadium.

Josh Kerr’s stunning run in the blue riband mile event will live long in the memory

It felt like a lot of concessions just to salvage something that wasn’t Glasgow’s problem to begin with. It also threatened to damage the legacy of the city’s hosting of the 2014 Games, still spoken about fondly as a special summer of Scottish sport.

There were other issues to deal with as the event got closer. The BBC put in what was said to be a ‘derisory’ offer for television rights and was outbid by TNT Sports, putting the live broadcast of the Games behind a paywall for the first time.

There were complaints that ticket prices for some events were too expensive, deterring people from attending. With no free-to-air TV coverage beyond highlight shows on Five and Alba, there was a danger the whole shebang could simply bypass many people, including Glaswegians themselves.

A number of high-profile athletes withdrew late on, including Scotland’s Eilish McColgan. And sticking up temporary stands with no roofs at Scotstoun for the athletics was simply asking for trouble as a monsoon duly descended.

Given all those issues and teething problems, was it worth it? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. These have been a slimmed-down Commonwealth Games like nothing we have witnessed before but the Glasgow organisers have undoubtedly made the most of the hand they were dealt and deserve credit for doing so.

There has been enough of a buzz created around the swimming events at Tollcross, the athletics – despite the weather on occasion – cycling, netball, 3×3 basketball, judo, boxing, weightlifting, gymnastics and bowls across 11 days of competitions to have made it all worthwhile.

Reuben Ward ignited the host nation feelgood factor with his unexpected gymnastics success

And while the traditional BBC early evening show was no more, that gap has been more than filled by social media with the Games’ own channels receiving nearly half a billion views. There is more than one way these days to get eyeballs on something.

From a sporting perspective, there has also been plenty to get the pulses racing. Athletes from all four home nations have spoken about their pride at getting to represent their individual country rather than Great Britain, something which makes the Commonwealth Games unique.

And while Australia gave up the chance to host these Games, they made up for that by sending over many of their finest competitors who helped themselves to medals galore, 171 in total including 70 gold. Advance Australia Fair has been played on repeat all over Glasgow for the past fortnight.

Scotland’s haul of 39 might seem meagre by comparison but they have also given us many of the Games’ abiding memories; the evergreen Duncan Scott getting the party started with another swimming gold, adopted Scottish Angharad Evans powering home in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, Reuben Ward stunning even himself by winning gymnastics gold, Melanie Woods winning her T54 1500m race not once but twice then adding the 400m on the same day, Neil Fachie’s enduring excellence in the para-cycling, plus Megan Keith’s stunning run to claim 5,000m bronze.

Then there was Josh Kerr, who lit up Scotstoun on Super Saturday by powering away to claim gold in a thrilling mile final. The Scot then spent the next hour signing autographs, posing for selfies and chatting to excited kids and, if there is to be any kind of lasting legacy from these last-minute Games, then perhaps it is simply that.